The boy peering into the sleeping area leanedin further. “What are you doing, mister?”
His mother stepped around the younger one andstretched out a hand to grab him, but the boy slipped inside.
“Do you want to see my models? I have animperial warship, the first steam ferry, and Da’s friend made me areplica of the city’s ice breaking ship.”
Amaranthe figured Sicarius would ignore thequestions, but he was pragmatic to the point where he probablywouldn’t think twice about tying the boy up to keep him out of theway. She stepped toward the curtain to make sure nothing like thathappened, but knocks at the door made her pause.
Raydevk cursed under his breath. His wifewinced.
“Problem?” Amaranthe asked.
“No,” Raydevk said. “Wrong address.”
Nobody said anything for a moment, but thenthe knocks came again-multiple fists striking the wood. “Ray,what’s the hold up? You two entertaining the neighborhood from thefire escape again?”
The wife’s face flushed red, and even theminer had the sense to appear mortified.
“Why don’t you let that wrong address in?”Amaranthe asked. “Maybe they know something about the missingathletes.”
“Come on, Ray, we have to go. Meeting startsin ten minutes.”
“Meeting?” Amaranthe smiled even as Raydevkcursed. She supposed she should not feel pleasure at watchingsomeone’s lies falling apart, but fate usually tormented her, so itwas nice seeing someone else have trouble.
“I…uh…I’ll just answer that,” Raydevksaid.
He backed toward the door, watching her as hewent, and she sensed he meant to try something. He wore no weapons,but he might have one stashed in the flat. A small table with adrawer leaned against the wall near the door. Amaranthe easedbehind the sofa, figuring she could duck for cover if need be.
Raydevk reached for the doorknob, though, notthe drawer. “You gentlemen will have to come back another time,” hesaid loudly without taking his eyes from Amaranthe. “There’s anenforcer lady here who’s talking to me about-” He flung the dooropen and darted into the hall. “Run!”
Surprised, Amaranthe did not reactimmediately. The coward had left his wife to deal with theenforcers while he ran off with the boys? The wife gaped at theopen door, as startled as Amaranthe. All the men had taken off, andfootsteps thundered in the stairwell at the end of the hallway.
“Si-Corporal Jev,” Amaranthe called.
Sicarius strode out.
“I need you to follow that…” The grinningboy riding Sicarius’s leg and clutching a toy boat made her pause.Well, Sicarius hadn’t tied the child up. That was good. “Our minersare off to a secret meeting. If you could extricate yourself, I’dappreciate it if you’d find out who they’re meeting and where.”
Without a word, Sicarius unwound the boy fromhis leg, deposited him on the sofa, brushed past Amaranthe, andslipped out the window. He vaulted over the fire escape railwithout bothering with the ladder.
“How come that man can’t talk?” the boyasked.
“He can talk. He’s just not the chatty type.”Amaranthe eased around the sofa toward the door. She doubted Pellawould run off and leave her children behind, but there was no needto tempt her. As she was shutting the door, her hand brushed herpocket, and something inside crinkled. She slipped her fingers inand slid a piece of paper out- the note Raydevk had stashed. WhenSicarius had been close enough to him to retrieve it, she did notknow, but she itched to unfold it and read it.
“My brother isn’t chatty either,” the boysaid.
Conscious of the mother’s gaze upon her,Amaranthe slid the note back into her pocket. She would check itlater.
“He liked my boat,” the boy added.
Amaranthe wondered how that deduction hadbeen made if Sicarius hadn’t said anything. “I’m sure he did. It’svery nice.”
“Marl, Denny, go back to bed,” Pellasaid.
Marl, huh? Amaranthe wondered if Books wouldbe flattered to know a boat-loving toddler shared his name.
“Where did Da go?”
Pella dragged her hands through her hair. “Idon’t know. Just go to bed, please.” She shoved them toward thecurtain and sank down in a chair.
Amaranthe thought that “I don’t know” soundedauthentic, but she perched on the sofa across from the woman,intending to find as many answers as she could. “Ma’am, mindanswering a few questions?”
“Do I have a choice?” Her bleak smile held nohumor.
“Not really, no.” Though she had a goodmemory, Amaranthe withdrew a notepad and a pen. It might help herappear official. “Do you know what he’s involved with? He’s notresponsible for kidnapping athletes, is he?”
“No, no, he wouldn’t do that. I don’t evenknow why…” Pella shrugged. “I’m not sure what he’s up to.”
“It’s strange that he’s home for the week,isn’t it?”
“Yes, he never gets this much time off.He…I shouldn’t be betraying his trust to you, should I? A goodwife is supposed to keep the books and her husband’s secrets.”
“You do know,” Amaranthe said, “that the lawno longer requires a woman to go to jail with her husband if he’sconvicted of a crime, right? Unless she’s found to be anaccomplice….”
“I’m no accomplice! He shows up here, takesall our savings, and promises me it’s for the greater good. That wewon’t have to worry about anything in the future. That it’s worthliving in poverty today if we can live like emperors tomorrow. Idon’t know what I’m supposed to make of that. He won’t tell memore. Just says not to worry about it. I’ll have to work for ourreward, but it’ll be worth it in the end.”
“You’ll have to work for it?” Amaranthetapped her pen against the notepad. That did not sound like agambling scheme. Unless Raydevk meant his wife would have to work,taking care of kidnapped prisoners. But, no, she did not know aboutthem, and some had been missing for days, so she would have beenrecruited by now if that were her task.
“That’s what he said.”
Amaranthe leaned back. A broken springbeneath the sofa cushion prodded her in the butt. Though she fearedshe would get little more information, she spent another fifteenminutes questioning Pella.
“I’m not going to jail, right?” Pella askedwhen she walked Amaranthe to the door at the end. “Whatever he’sgotten tangled up with, it wasn’t my idea. I’m a good, loyalcitizen. I swear it. And my boys are, too. They need me.”
A guilty twinge coursed throughAmaranthe-this woman had doubtlessly committed fewer crimes than
Her husband was another matter.
The building’s parlor remained empty, soAmaranthe stopped beneath a light to check the note.
Two columns of names were written in sloppy,barely legible handwriting that an imperial code-breaker would havestruggled to decipher. She recognized three out of the five, andone of them was Sicarius.
A chill ran through her. Had Raydevk knownwho Sicarius was all the time? He hadn’t shown any signs ofrecognition when Sicarius stepped through the door. And Raydevkhadn’t been that great at hiding any of his other thoughts. Surely,he would have given something away.
Sicarius’s name was at the top of theleft-hand column, one with three entries in it. Deercrest, themissing wrestler, came under him, and Amaranthe did not recognizethe third. The top name on the second column belonged to Fasha’ssister Keisha. The other two looked like Borsk and Allemah.Maybe.
Amaranthe pocketed the note again and steppedoutside. She debated whether to wait on the sidewalk in front ofthe building, return to the hideout, or go back up to Pella and seewhat her reaction would be to the name, “Sicarius.” Her gutsquirmed, knowing she had sent him off to spy on people whoapparently wanted him for some nefarious reason.
She headed back into the building, adjustingthe stiff collar of her enforcer uniform as she climbed the stairsagain. It was scratching her neck more than she remembered-maybethe fabric was reminding her she no
